When we finally found a property that we wanted to rent the most obvious problem with it was that there were no fly screens.
I negotiated with the owner through the real estate agent and instead of paying $295 per week rent I pay $310 per week.
I did this so that the owner could pay for the fly screens and not be totally out of pocket. It was worth the $15 a week to me because now I am not bitten or bothered by insects. I was surprised by how much money the landlord wanted though. I was originally thinking about $5 more per week but apparently the fly screens were expensive because they had to be specially made to the window and I wanted a fly screen door as well.
I am unable to find anything in the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) which makes the landlord responsible for providing flyscreens. Morally and ethically I believe that he should. It makes business sense too. But legally I don’t think he has too.
You are right that unhappy tenants can cause a lot of headaches. The law is in your favour. How about paying the rent 13 days late each month? He can do nothing about that.
